Voit Farm has been one of the most recognizable East Side landmarks for over 160 years. As the rest of the neighborhood, the city, and the world in general continued the inexorable march of progress, Voit Farm stood pat. Last year the farm was finally torn down and a new development will take its place. The new Voit Farm will house 1,100 new units consisting of a mix of low income and market rate apartments as well as townhomes. With a projected influx of several thousand people, one thing is for sure: the area is in for some major changes. This article is an educated guess as to what those changes will be.
The first and most direct impact will be on the environment itself. The development will spread out over 65 acres and will include a dog park, a community garden, a bike path linking to Starkweather Creek, and a commercial community center. With over 1,000 units, the opportunities for new businesses are endless.
The Voit Farm development is not just a private real estate project. The City of Madison has significant skin in the game through something called Tax Increment Financing, or TIF. Here is the simple version: when new development raises property values in a designated area, the extra tax revenue generated by that increase gets redirected back into the district to fund infrastructure and improvements rather than flowing into the general city budget. Think of it as the development paying for itself over time.
Madison has committed $3.9 million in interest-free loans to help cover infrastructure costs and another $4.1 million to purchase lots intended for affordable housing. Without that city help, the numbers simply did not work. The first 534 units alone are projected to generate roughly $90.8 million in new assessed value. For taxpayers, that is not a bad return.
New cross streets will be added along the corridor to serve the development, which means more access points but also more traffic. The development is designed with walkability and bikeability as core principles, so expect narrower streets, raised crosswalks, and plenty of street trees. The Garver Path will be extended along the west edge of the property, connecting to new paths along Milwaukee Street and Chicago Avenue.
The biggest transportation story is one that is already done. BRT Route A is running with a station at East Washington Avenue and Milwaukee Street. Future Voit Farm residents will have rapid transit access to downtown every 15 minutes on weekdays. That level of connectivity is rare on the east side and will be a real draw. The planned retail along Leon Street is modest by design, but new rooftops drive demand for new businesses, and those businesses tend to spread outward along the corridor. Milwaukee Street between Fair Oaks and Starkweather Creek could look significantly more active five years from now than it does today.
The headline number is that 20% of units will be lower cost. That is the goal, and it is worth taking seriously, but it is also worth understanding when those units actually arrive. The most deeply affordable units, around 180 to 200 apartments targeted through the federal Section 42 program, were still being negotiated as of early 2025 and are not expected in the first phase of construction. Habitat for Humanity and the Madison Land Trust are both involved in plans for owner-occupied affordable units, which is meaningful. But residents hoping for significant affordable housing in the first wave should go in with realistic expectations. The park is coming. The market-rate apartments are coming. Deep affordability is still being worked out.
For east side homeowners and investors, this development is a signal about where the corridor is heading. Density drives demand for retail. Retail improves walkability. Walkability lifts surrounding property values. That cycle is well documented in urban markets and Milwaukee Street is positioned to benefit from it.
It is also worth noting that the Voit Farm site is currently in the Town of Blooming Grove, which is scheduled to be annexed into Madison in 2027. That transition will affect taxes, zoning, and city services for nearby properties. And Voit Farm does not exist in isolation. The Oscar Mayer site redevelopment is also underway on the east side. Two projects of this scale hitting the same corridor at the same time creates a compounding effect on infrastructure investment, commercial interest, and how the broader market perceives this side of town.
That old barn and silo were easy to take for granted. They had always been there and for a long time it seemed like they always would be. But the rural island is about to become one of the most connected and built-up stretches of the east side. The east side has been undervalued relative to its location and character for a long time. Voit Farm is the largest single catalyst for change this corridor has ever seen. Whether you are a longtime resident, a homeowner watching your equity, or someone thinking about buying in before the buildout is complete, now is the time to pay attention.
-By: Akeem Harper
